Our top 5 home energy monitoring tools

Looking to cut the cost of your home gas and electricity bills? The first place to start is to monitor how much energy you use – and there are some fantastic apps, tools and gadgets you can get to help you. Just read on to find which energy monitoring tools made our top five…

1. The npower Home Energy Survey tool

Our Home Energy Survey tool should be the first port of call for anyone trying to make their home more energy-efficient. It’s available on the npower website and it’s free to use too.

All you need to do is answer some simple questions about your home, and we’ll provide you with a report showing you an energy rating for your home, how much your home energy costs you and what your carbon footprint is.

And, when you take the Energy Saving Survey, we’ll also provide you with some hints and tips to help you reduce the amount of energy you use – and cut the cost of your gas and electricity bills.

2. Belkin Conserve Insight Energy Monitor

This lightweight, portable energy monitor makes identifying energy-guzzling items in your home simple. Just plug it in – the socket part of the device sits between the plug for the item you want to monitor and the wall socket – and you’ll be able to see exactly how many watts of energy that item’s using, how much carbon dioxide it’s emitting and how much it’s costing you to run.

Thanks to its easy-to-read LCD screen, the Belkin Conserve Insight Energy Monitor allows you to find out which electrical equipment is costing you the most to run and enables you to see the benefits straight away when you’ve replaced your old appliances and lights with more energy-efficient versions.

3. Efergy e2 Classic 2.0

This home energy monitor has some great high-tech features and comes complete with a software package, so you can track and record your energy use on your PC for easy analysis.

Simple to set up and use, the Efergy e2 Classic 2.0 enables you to monitor your energy consumption over weeks and months, as well as see it in real time. It can to store up to 2 years’ worth of data, so it’s the ideal option if you want to see how well you’ve been doing at cutting back on your electricity use. It’s even got an alarm, which you can set to alert you when you’ve used a certain amount of energy.

4. Wattson Solar Plus

This elegant wireless energy monitor is designed for use by people who are generating their own home energy using solar, wind or water power. So if you’ve just had solar panels installed in your home, you can use this to see the benefits straight away.

The Wattson Solar Plus from DIY Kyoto shows both the amount of energy you’re using and the amount that you’re generating, and alerts you when you’re generating more than you’re getting through. It comes with its own software package, Holmes, so you can track and monitor everything on your laptop or PC.

5. The Energy Saving Trust’s Water Energy Calculator

According to the Energy Saving Trust, 23% of the average household’s heating bill is due to the cost involved in heating water, whether that’s for baths, showers, in washing machines or filling the kettle. So it pays to try and cut down on the amount of water you’re using when you’re trying to cut your gas and electric costs.

Luckily, there’s a useful Water-Energy-Calculator on the Energy Saving Trust’s website, which will show you how much water your appliances are likely to be using – and how much they could be costing you to run. It’s free to use and is a great place to go when you’re trying to work out where you can start cutting back.

Do you use any energy monitoring apps, tools or gadgets? Has using one helped you to save money on your gas and electric? Which energy monitoring tool do you like best? Please leave us comment and let us know.

We’ll be blogging more about tools and apps that can help you reduce the energy you use soon – so please let us know if there’s anything you’d like us to cover.